Another busy week across the mining resources sector, here is our weekly recap.
Vast Resources plc (VAST) achieved a 20% increase in overall ore production at Baita Plai during Q3 FY22 compared with Q2 FY22 and more importantly, the analysts said, a 15% rise in copper concentrate produced during the same period from its Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania.
Vast Resources has 100% ownership of the Baita Plai and Manaila polymetallic mines in Romania, as well as having joint venture projects at the Takob mine in Tajikistan.
Hummingbird Resources (HUM) provided an operational, finance and trading update for the third quarter to 30 September 2022. The company said despite the disappointing production numbers, Q3 was a quarter of progress in addressing the root cause of the issues which Yanfolila has faced over the last twelve months in particular.
Corcel (CRCL), the natural resource exploration and development company, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Niugini Nickel Pty Ltd, has submitted an application over currently vacant ground in Papua New Guinea totalling 136 graticular sub-blocks or c. 464 km2.
Rambler Metals and Mining (RMM), a copper and gold producer, announced its reconciled operational results for Q3 2022, with the exception of gold values which are awaiting final assay results for September 2022. The company said operational performance has continued to improve once again to deliver increasing payable copper production of 1,654 tonnes Cu. Although working capital constraints held it back at the end of September, it has finished the Quarter well placed to deliver 2,000 tonnes of copper in the final quarter of 2022. The company said it is in conversations with several groups to restructure its finances.
Orosur Mining (OMI) announced an update on the progress of exploration activities at the its Anzá Project in Colombia. The company said PEP001 was clearly a spectacular result, but being only the first hole, caution was warranted. It is encouraging therefore that further holes have confirmed this first result and it eagerly awaits results from better positioned holes that are currently underway to get a better sense of the scale of what appears a most exciting prospect.
Power Metal Resources PLC (POW) has announced a drilling update from the Molopo Farms Complex Project targeting a large-scale nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) discovery in southwestern Botswana.
Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal, stated that the initial findings from hole DDH1-6B were exciting. They confirmed the expansion of pyroxenite layers to the south of hole KKME1-6. This provides significant core intervals for faster processing and subsequent assay tests.
Ncondezi Energy (NCCL) provided an update on the integrated Ncondezi 300MW power and mine project in Tete, Mozambique. The company said that following an internal review it has resolved to launch a process to identify a suitable organisation who can take the lead on further developing, financing and mining its coal resources whilst it focuses on developing its Solar Project and renewable energy strategy.
Greatland Gold (GGP), a mining development and exploration company, announced it has been awarded a grant from the Western Australian Government to co-fund exploration drilling and mobilisation costs at its 100% owned Ernest Giles exploration project.
The company said this drilling grant award (£120,000) for the Ernest Giles project will co-fund commencement of a new exploration programme. Ernest Giles is located in the Yilgarn craton, one of the most highly mineralised areas in the world and home to numerous gold deposits.
KEFI Gold and Copper PLC, (KEFI). stated that the Tulu Kapi Gold project in Ethiopia has seen its costs rise by 7%. However, its financing partners are willing to increase their investments to meet the increased capex.
The capital expenditure required, excluding the mining fleet provided to the contractor, is now estimated at US$320mln as opposed to US$300mln.
Galileo Resources (GLR) announced that JSE listed Afrimat Limited has given notice to Glenover Phosphate Proprietary Limited in which Galileo now has a 30.7% direct and 4.99% indirect investment held via Galagen Proprietary Limited who is the BEE partner in Glenover, that Afrimat wish to conditionally acquire 100% of the shares in Glenover from the current shareholders of Glenover for consideration of ZAR300 million (approximately GBP14.6 million). GLR said it was very pleased that the Afrimat Board has decided to proceed with the Glenover Acquisition. Upon completion of the Glenover Acquisition the Company’s share of the Glenover Consideration will be approximately £5.2 million.
Kavango Resources PLC (KAV) stated that it will finish the holes in its current drilling campaign at the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana with diamond drilling, based on the ongoing CSAMT surveys.
London-listed Kavango reported earlier this month positive results from Controlled Source Audio Magnetotelluric surveys (CSAMT), which were conducted over the PL082/2018 license in KCB.
Atlantic Lithium (ALL), the funded African-focussed lithium exploration and development company, announced assay results from the resource and exploration drilling programme now completed at the Ewoyaa Lithium Project. The company said the programme was increased by an additional 10,000m, to a total of 47,000m, which included detailed geotechnical, metallurgical, hydrogeological, resource and exploration drilling.
Technology Minerals (TM1) has announced the results of the first work programme on new Prospecting Licence Area (PLA 1597) in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, has yielded high-grade spodumene pegmatite samples in float ranging up to 2.95% Li2O. The licence will form part of the Company’s Leinster Property exploration block, which is operated under an exclusive Option and Earn-in agreement with Global Battery Metals Ltd with no project expenditure required by the Company.
Anglesey Mining PLC (AYM) has reported a positive final set of assay results from an infill drilling programme at its Parys Mountain copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold project on the Isle of Anglesey in North West Wales.
The last two holes of the 2022 program recorded numerous broad intercepts. This continued to show that White Rock and Engine Zones are an extensive mineralised system.
Premier African Minerals (PREM) reported on assay results at Premier’s Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project. These results are from boreholes that constitute part of the Mineral Resource update required to support the DFS. The company said all indications point to the mineralisation being almost exclusively spodumene with little to no petalite and equally low contained micaceous mineralisation carrying any lithium.
Strategic Minerals PLC, (SML) reported that revenue from its Cobre tailings operations in New Mexico increased in the third quarter to the end of September 2022 following price increases in July.
Cobre’s quarterly revenue increased to US$0.653mln (2021: US$0.607mln). Annual sales are now US$2.48mln ($US$2.9mln). The decrease is due to lower prices earlier in the year.
The newsflow appears to be accelerating at Chaarat Gold (CGH), the AIM-quoted gold mining company with an operating mine in Armenia, and assets at various stages of development in the Kyrgyz Republic.
It announced the completion of the Bio-oxidation first phase metallurgical test programme performed by SGS Lakefield on its Kyzyltash gold project. The project has an unconstrained JORC-compliant Measured, Indicated and Inferred sulphide resource of 5.4 million ounces of gold at 3.8 g/t. Management estimate that the project has the potential to produce approximately 300koz per annum of gold subject to the project meeting its feasibility, permitting and development milestones. Yesterday Chaarat said it was in the early stages of making a possible bid for Shanta Gold (SHG).
Shanta Gold (SHG) confirmed that it has received approaches from Shandong Gold Group Co., Ltd, Yintai Gold Co., Ltd and Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd which may or may not result in an offer for the Company, Shanta further confirmed that based on further discussions, any offer from Yintai is also likely to be solely in cash.
Corcel (CRCL), the natural resource exploration and development company, announced that it has signed an exclusive 45-day option to acquire 100% ownership of the “Mt Weld (P38/4489) Project,” a granted mineral tenement, located only 1.4 km (0.9 miles) west-north-west of Lynas Rare Earths Limited’s (ASX: LYC) Mt. Weld REE Mine near Laverton in Western Australia. The Project covers 171 hectares in size and the tenement straddles the mine access road to Lynas’s Mt. Weld Mine.
Chesterfield Resources (CHF) announced that it has signed an Agreement with Pacton Gold Inc, a TSX-V listed exploration company with regard to Chesterfield’s Adeline project in Labrador. The agreement is conditional, inter alia upon the approval by the relevant authorities at the TSX Venture Exchange, and a successful equity raise by Pacton.
ECR Minerals PLC, (ECR) declared “exceptionally high” gold grades after testing selected core samples from its Creswick gold mine in central Victoria, Australia. This resulted in the company’s share price rising 25%.
According to industry standards, original drill cores are cut in half and sent for analysis. The other half is kept for future reference.
First Class Metals (FCM), the UK metals exploration company, announced the issue of two Exploration Permits for the Company’s Sunbeam Project including ‘Sunbeam Extension’ located in the Ramsey-Wright Townships, in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, Ontario. The permits are effective for a period of three years until expiry on the 13th of October 2025
Mila Resources (MILA), the post-discovery gold exploration accelerator, announced highly encouraging preliminary visual results from the deepest holes drilled to date at its Kathleen Valley Gold Project in Western Australia as part of its ongoing ~13,500m programme. The two deepest holes so far drilled at Coffey (KVDD0036 and KVDD0037) have intersected the down dip extension of the mineralised Coffey shear zone (figure 1) and encountered three additional sheared zones either side of the main shear zone over an apparent 87m wide length at ~339-426m.
Bradda Head Lithium (BHL), the North America-focused lithium development company, announced the completion of a further step-out drilling phase at its Basin East lithium in clay project in Arizona as well as a reduction of claims at Wikieup South. The company said these further results from Basin East are a significant addition to the existing resource base established at its Basin project. The results should bolster the Basin MRE and further demonstrate the potential in the ground of its clay assets and it is particularly excited about the intervals shown in holes BES-22-01 and BES-22-02, both located on the western side of BE near the BEE where Bradda will be starting drilling shortly.
Corcel (CRCL), the natural resource exploration and development company, announced it has entered into a MOU for the reorganization of the company’s battery metal mining interests in PNG into a new carried battery metal led Asian JV structure alongside the introduction of a new cornerstone investor through an equity placing.
Lexington Gold (LEX), the gold exploration and development company, announced that it has conditionally raised approximately £500,000 through a placing, via those nice people at Peterhouse Capital Limited at an issue price of 4.75 pence per share. It is interesting to know of in this case of a fundraise that has not been leaked, unlike several of late.
Horizonte Minerals (HZM), a nickel company developing two Tier 1 assets in Brazil, announced it has awarded Wood Plc the principal engineering contract to undertake the Feasibility Study for Horizonte’s 100%-owned Vermelho Nickel-Cobalt Project.
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company, announces an operations update, the termination of the cooperation agreement with Beyond Lithium following the recently announced MOU with SunResin, and confirmed a recent Government announcement in Chile of a new pro-investment action plan. The company said the recommencement of resource drilling at Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin is expected to result in increased and upgraded resource estimates for the two projects, while an exploration well, planned for the Llamara Project in the current quarter, once the licences have been granted, will test the large potential of the project. Vermelho is a large high-grade, long mine life, scalable resource, designed to be a low-cost producer of nickel and cobalt for the battery industry.
Management of listed companies have not only to cope with those who like to leak information, they also have to deliver their strategy in the public domain. It was noticeable this week that Colin Bird, Chairman of Bezant Resources (BZT), took the tough decision to call time on the ‘copper-gold exploration and development company’s JV with Caerus (CMRS). The merits of this difficult, but brave decision were underlined by the turnaround in the Bezant share price, which is up by more than a third since the beginning of the month. On the other side of the coin, one of Bird’s other vehicles Galileo Resources (GLR) cashed in £5.2m after Afrimat Ltd exercised its option to acquire shares in Glenover Phosphate. Shares of GLR were up 10% on the week.
Sticking with the mining space, it may be worth taking a look at Marula Mining (MARU), which has been one of the more stable contenders on Aquis. Here we see CEO Jason Brewer maintaining his force of nature via Caracal Gold (GCAT) last year, and now with the battery metals group. We have seen companies in this space start to talk off, and it looks like Marula may follow in their footsteps given the focus here, especially with regard to copper and lithium, the latter of which has been capturing the imagination of investors.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author
Disclaimer: This blog is provided for general information and It does not constitute investment advice, not a buy or sell recommendation, warrants or bonds in any companies written about within the blog. Information is taken from publicly available sources and any comment is that of the author.
